Thursday Morning Notes: What For Philly Fed, Out at 10a

– Mixed trading in global markets, indices appear to be net positive
– Japan Q1 prelim GDP came in much lower than expected
– While earthquake in March had a detrimental effect on the GDP number, much of the qtrly results had already been in play
– Japan Q4 results were revised down to -3.0% from -1.3%
– Note that Japan has seen 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth, so Japan is technically in a recession
– BOJ commenced a 2 day meeting today
– European bourses are trading higher this morning